Women Gain Seats in Saudi, NYC Rape Cases Bungled

Cheers

On Jan. 11 the Saudi kinggranted women seats on the country's top advisory council for the first time, a much-awaited step for women to get a toehold in Saudi Arabia's largely female-free political system, Fox News reported Jan. 11.

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The Pap test, which has prevented countless deaths from cervical cancer, may eventually help to detect cancers of the uterus and ovaries as well a new study suggests,The New York Times reported Jan. 10.

New York Gov.Andrew Cuomo backed a Women's Equality Act in his New Year agenda, New York 1 reported Jan. 9. Saying the proposed bill will follow the spirit of 2010's Marriage Equality Act, Cuomo wants the Women's Equality Act to include guarantees of equal pay, protection of a woman's right to choose, strengthen human trafficking laws and order-of-protection laws and laws barring sexual harassment in the workplace.

Jeers

The New York City medical examiner's officeis undertaking an unusual review of more than 800 rape cases in which critical DNA evidence may have been mishandled or overlooked by a lab technician, resulting in incorrect reports being given to criminal investigators, The New York Times reported Jan. 10. The article said no false positives were the result of the technician's failures and thus no convictions are based on faulty reports.

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Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released Jan. 9shows that Latinas are suffering from a pervasive gender-based wage gap in states where the majority of them work. In the 20 states with the largest number of Latinas who work full time, year round, the wage gap ranges from 51 and 68 cents for every dollar paid to men, National Partnership said in a press statement Jan. 9.

Saudi Arabiahas executed a Sri Lankan domestic worker for killing a baby in her care in 2005, BBC News reported Jan. 9. The maid, Rizana Nafeek, had denied killing the 4-month-old boy. She was only 17 at the time and her supporters say her execution is a breach of international child rights

Three of the men accused of raping and murdering an Indian medical student in a case that has provoked widespread anger with the government and police will plead not guilty, citing lapses in the police investigation, Reuters reported Jan. 9

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One in eight American women engages in binge drinking, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Binge drinking is reported to be the most common and dangerous form of drinking for women, being a risk factor for unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, heart disease, reduced cognitive function, breast cancer and other health problems, ABC News reported Jan. 8.

PresidentBarack Obamahas failed to nominate women for the two top cabinet posts of his administration, the Washington Post wrote Jan. 7. Obama announced former Sen.Chuck Hagel for the defense job and counterterrorism adviserJohn O. Brennan to head the CIA.

State lawmakers kicked off their new sessions this week and Republican legislators are already gearing up for the new abortion restrictions they hope to introduce this year, Think Progress reported Jan. 7. Last year, 19 states passed 42 different abortion restrictions, second only to the record-breaking 92 anti-abortion provisions enacted in 2011, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

New figures reveal that 4.6 million women who receive child tax credit directly will be affected by the reforms on benefits and tax credits in England, The Guardian reported Jan. 6.

Medicare spends almost as much money screening for breast cancer as it does treating it, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, ABC News reported Jan. 8. Breast cancer screenings cost Medicare $1.08 billion annually.

On Jan. 8Amnesty Internationalcalled for the release of a group of female protesters detained by the Saudi Arabian authorities unless they are charged with an internationally recognizable crime. At least 11 women are still believed to be in detention in the central city of Buraida as well as in the capital Riyadh after being held at a protest in Buraida on Jan. 5.

Facebookapologized for its previous stance on imagery that promoted violence toward women, Wired reported Jan. 7. The photo of Facebook user Thorlaug Agustsdottir had been altered by a user on an anti-woman Facebook page to make it look like she had been beaten along with a caption that read: "Women are like grass, they need to be beaten/cut regularly."

An anti-abortion group, The Real Truth About Abortion, Inc., will not get a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court on its appeal of federal law designating it as a political nonprofit that must disclose information about its financial donors, CNN reported Jan. 7.

A Kansas law that restricts private health insurance coverage for abortions will go to trial to resolve whether it poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking to end pregnancies, the Associated Press reported Jan. 7.